Human body muscle Human Muscle Anatomy - Movement, Types, Action, and their structures and the 3B of exercise. In this article, I will outline many of the important keywords used throughout the Anatomy of Movement and various human muscles.
Strength training has a variety of terms used to describe the movement patterns, muscle contractions, and various descriptions when exercising. Simple terms often become more complex as training progresses, which can seem confusing at times, although the more you get involved the more knowledge and understanding you’ll have of your body.
Joint Actions
Muscular joints of the body provide a fulcrum point for muscles to be worked. There are six types of joint actions. In the table below I will describe the movement and example exercise:
| JOINT ACTION | MOVEMENT DESCRIPTION | EXAMPLE MOVEMENT |
|---|---|---|
| Flexion | Decreasing joint angle | Biceps Curl |
| Extension | Increasing joint angle | Leg Extension |
| Abduction | Movement away from the body midline | Deltoid Lateral Raises |
| Adduction | Movement toward the body midline | Horizontal Chest Flyes |
| Rotation | Rotation about an axis | Twisting the Arm |
| Circumduction | 360-degree rotation | Circling the arm around |
Anatomical Planes
The body itself is divided into three anatomical planes – Sagittal, Frontal and Horizontal. The Sagittal plane divides the body down the center or vertically.
The Frontal plane divides the body from front to back. The Horizontal plane divides upper and lower. The table below lists the anatomical terms and the corresponding descriptions.
| ANATOMICAL TERM | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Anterior | Front |
| Medial | Inside |
| Posterior | Rear |
| Lateral | Outside |
| Supine | Face up |
| Unilateral | One side |
| Bilateral | Both sides |
| Prone | Facedown |
| Superior | Upper |
| Inferior | Lower |
Each of the movements of the muscles of the body is described by the following terms:
- Abductor – Moves a limb away from the midline
- Adductor – Moves a limb toward the midline
- Extensor – Increases the angle at a joint (extends a limb)
- Flexor – Decreases the angle at a joint (flexes a limb)
- Pronator – Turns a limb to face downwards
- Supinator – Turns a limb to face upwards
- Rotator – Rotates a limb
Types of Muscle Contraction
While it is known that muscle fibers can only contract and shorten, as a whole they can develop a force in more than one way as shown below:
Isometric Where the muscle tension and muscle length remain constant
Concentric Where the muscles shorten as the fibers contract
Eccentric Where the muscles lengthen as it develops tension
Isokinetic Where the muscle contracts through its full range of movement
In each exercise there are four main functions of the associated muscles:
2. Antagonists - is the opposing muscle and acts in contrast to the agonist.
3. Stabilizers - are those that hold a joint in place so that the exercise may be performed. The stabilizer muscles are not necessarily moving during exercise, but provide stationary support.
4. Assistors - help the Agonist muscle doing the work.
The following table lists muscles and their opposing counterparts. These columns are reversed when exercising muscle on the right-hand column, for example, the Antagonist becomes the Agonist and vice versa:
| AGONIST (Prime Mover) | ANTAGONIST |
|---|---|
| Biceps | Triceps |
| Deltoids | Latissimus Dorsi |
| Pectoralis Major | Trapezius/Rhomboids |
| Rectus Abdominis | Erector Spinae |
| Iliopsoas | Gluteus Maximus |
| Hip Abductor | Gluteus Medius |
| Quadriceps | Hamstrings |
| Tibialis Anterior | Gastrocnemius |
In prescribing all 5 phases in Strength Training for Men, it is important to have muscle balance to prevent injury. Muscular balance refers to the relationship between the Agonist and Antagonist.
If the Agonist is much stronger than the Antagonist (or vice versa) the Agonist can overpower the Antagonist and cause injury.
Exercise Terminology
Exercise terminology is generated separated into 3 key areas:
1. Isolated – is an exercise that involves just one discernible joint movement.
2. Compound – relates to an exercise that involves two or more joint movements.
3. Static – refers to holding a muscle in a static position relative to the desired body position.
Read more about Strength Development:
3B’s Principle: Pre-exercise Set-up
Every exercise has a number of key elements to consider when setting up and performing a movement. Applying the correct technique from the onset will help establish good form which is ultimately maintained until the repetitions or set is completed.
After reviewing Anatomy of Movement, the key elements required in order to maintain good body position whilst exercising form part of a simple exercise set-up phrase I’ve termed the 3B’s Principle:
1. Brace
Activating and bracing your abdominal muscles whilst exercising is important because it helps increase awareness of your body position as well as helping unload any stress placed on the lower back region.
2. Breath
In foundation and core strength training, you breathe out when you exert a force – such as pushing the bar up and extending the arms in the bench press exercise or rising up straight from a squat position.
You then breathe in with recovery – such as lower the bar towards the chest with the bench press exercise or lowering the body and bending the legs when performing a squat. Breathing should remain constant throughout each exercise.
3. Body Position
To complete the 3B’s Principle, the third B relates to one’s ability to hold a good body position and technique with each exercise.
In all exercises, ensure good head and neck, spine, and pelvic alignment is maintained at all times with the rest of the body. The overall focus of each exercise should therefore be on the quality of the movement.
So, next time you perform any exercise, simply apply the 3B’s Principle from start to finish in order to maintain correct technique and body posture to help maximize strength gains.
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